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Agriculture

As our BookShelf column moves to a monthly schedule, we take a look at an imaginative take on how to deal with the spread of invasive species — eating them! A pair of children’s book authors offers insight into the problem for young adult readers (and the rest of us), along with recipes. Read our review.

"The tentative deal on the 2018 farm bill is likely to boost the Conservation Reserve Program at the price of other conservation initiatives, reflecting fiscal limitations and policy fights that shaped talks over that part of the five-year legislation."

"Key lawmakers said Wednesday they have reached a tentative deal on a massive farm bill, breaking a months-long impasse over legislation that doles out more than $400 billion in federal funds for farm subsidies, food stamps and conservation efforts."

"Weed killers in wheat crackers and cereals, insecticides in apple juice and a mix of multiple pesticides in spinach, string beans and other veggies – all are part of the daily diets of many Americans. For decades, federal officials have declared tiny traces of these contaminants to be safe. But a new wave of scientific scrutiny is challenging those assertions."

"Rapidly growing numbers of cases of chronic wasting disease are appearing on deer and elk farms and hunting ranches in Wisconsin at the same time the state has pulled back on rules and procedures designed to limit the spread of the fatal brain disease among its captive and wild deer."

"Today, many farmers continue to store the waste in open pits despite the millions of dollars in private investment spent and years of research and political promises. The practice grows more hazardous with each hurricane that pounds the state."

"A U.S. judge overseeing the federal litigation against Bayer AG’s Monsanto unit over glyphosate-based weed-killers allegedly causing cancer on Tuesday selected the first case to be tried in federal court in February 2019."